Talk:Hotshots and Aces Reinforcements Pack/@comment-5.173.144.15-20200118170645/@comment-454133-20200118195827
If you did have lots of 1e scum ships or planed to buy some, the conversion kit would grow your army by quite a lot by letting you use those ships. Hotshots & Aces comes with 3 pilots for each faction (except for separatists and republic), and so won't grow your scum faction by much; it just adds neat options for players already invested in one or more of those factions. However, neither the conversion kit nor hotshots & aces come with models. They're meant for players who already have the models and just want more pilot options. Since you're totally new and you don't want to buy 1E ships, you probably don't want either of these. This Reinforcement Pack and the Expansion Kits are for players coming from 1E or buying old 1E ships, and it sounds like that doesn't match your situation. Instead, you should just buy a core set (or the individual components, see below) and some second edition ship expansions. First, pick a faction that interests you and select a few ship expansions that you like and that could build a 200 point fleet around. Since you mentioned Scum, that faction's options include Firespray, Fang Fighter, M3-A, Jumpmaster, Z-95 Headhunter, Mining Guild TIE, Hound's Tooth, and Lando's Millennium Falcon + Escape Craft (they come together). Check out the Products page to explore options. You can build factions in squad builders like YASB, and even print them out so you don't need to buy expansions just to get the cards (the only time you actually need the cards is for official tournaments, and you can often borrow cards from people). From there you have a choice of how to get your core components: 1) Buy the Core Set which contains dice, movement templates + ruler, a damage deck, and some starter ships & cards for Rebel & Empire players. This is by far the easiest option. 2) Buy the Dice, Movement Templates & Ruler, and Damage Deck separately (see the Accessories tab under Products). You can also buy nice looking acrylic movement templates & tokens on Etsy and other sites; Curled Paw is one of the most well-known sellers. Buying them separately doesn't necessarily save you lots of money (in fact, you could spend a lot more if you go acrylic), but its advantage is customization. You can buy a damage deck for your faction, some plastic or acrylic templates (instead of cardboard), and maybe some nice looking acrylic tokens. But none of this is necessary for starting out; the Core Set's cardboard works surprisingly well and lasts a long time! If the faction you like is Rebel or Empire, the Core Set is great because it comes with a bunch of pilots and upgrades for the X-Wing and 2 TIE Fighers it includes. The core set also comes with various handy cardboard components like obstacles (asteroids and debris) that you'd have to buy separately as well if you're getting everything piecemeal, or borrow from other players. There's one more concern with buying separate: the damage decks aren't released yet; I assume they'll be out this month or early Feb. One reason for getting the core parts separately is if you love the acrylic maneuver templates and tokens, but that's an expensive intro and not necessary to pursue. Core set is by far the easiest start, even if it gives you ships for factions you don't need. Here's an example purchase to build a starting Scum fleet, including Miniature Market prices to save a bit of money: * Boba Fett * Dengar with Punishing One * Kad Solus with Fearless This fleet doesn't have a ton of equipment so it's easy to learn and remember your abilities. And it uses 3 fun Scum ships and the iconic bounty hunters, Boba Fett and Dengar, with lots of room for customization. It's made up of three expansions: * Punishing One Expansion Pack: MSRP $30 ($25 on Miniature Market) * Slave I Expansion Pack: MSRP $30 ($25 on Miniature Market) * Fang Fighter Expansion Pack: MSRP $20 ($17 on Miniature Market) * And either a Core set at MSRP $40 (or $34 on Miniature Market), which is recommended, or the individual parts: ** Scum Damage Deck: MSRP $5 ($4 on Miniature Market) ** Dice Pack: MSRP $8 ($6.80 on Minature Market) ** Rulers and Maneuver Template: MSRP $20 ($17 on Miniature Market). Or get it from Curled Paw for $22 and some shipping. Assuming you get a core set for simplicity, you're looking at MSRP $120 (or $101 from Miniature Market, which qualifies you for free shipping inside the USA). Also Amazon Prime has the core set and some expansion, which is another way to get free shipping. Just beware of scalpers! I hope that answers your questions and gets some ideas flowing!